The 5 Ws of Supporting MCEC with a Financial Gift

WHY?

To ensure MCEC can grow to help all military-connected children and their families

WHO? Everyone who wants to help military-connected children thrive

WHAT? Contributions of cash, credit card, EFTs, or planned gifts

WHEN? Once, monthly, quarterly, annually – whatever works best for the donor

Where?

In our current landscape, MCEC must rely even more on philanthropic support. Over the past ten years, the percentage of philanthropic support needed to ensure MCEC can fulfill its mission has increased from less than 30% to over 50% and growing. With redirection of much of the public — and even some private — funding to essential needs of food insecurity, housing, and health issues, philanthropic support for the education challenges our military families face is vitally important. MCEC tackles those challenges daily through the generosity of our donors.

MCEC routinely seeks and receives philanthropic contributions from three general sources: corporations, foundations, and individuals. As corporations and foundations shift their areas of focus/interest, are flooded by non-profits seeking financial support, and in some cases find themselves with less discretionary capital and an explosion of more essential needs to fill, the generosity of individuals is now even more crucial to MCEC. Because MCEC has, in the past, been so generously funded by contracts and grants (federal and state), individuals may view their contributions as simply augmenting our primary funding sources. Although MCEC has increased our efforts to pursue corporate and foundation grant funding, individual philanthropy not only supports our mission financially, it makes a strong statement to our corporate and foundation partners who want to be assured the people who know us best are also supporting us financially.

MCEC is so very grateful to the hundreds of individuals who contribute each year, and we believe there are hundreds more who believe in our mission of supporting all military-connected children by educating, advocating, and collaborating to resolve education challenges associated with the military lifestyle. Below, in his own words, one individual states why he supports our mission:

"Our four children attended 21 different schools during my years of service in the Army. The educational challenges they faced inspired my wife and I to do all we could to ease the transitions for all military families."

- Robert R. Ivany President Emeritus University of St. Thomas

Did you know?

• There are 1.74 million non-profits vying for limited philanthropic dollars.

• In 2018, less than 12% of taxpayers itemized, reducing their motivation to give philanthropically.

• 30% of all individual giving is to religious institutions.

• Political campaigns can have a profound effect on the amount of money given to non-profits.

The demands of the military lifestyle can be particularly challenging for military children and can take a toll on their social-emotional well-being and development. Frequent relocations, parental and sibling deployments, and exposure to traumatic events such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, and physical injuries can put military children at risk.

Recognizing the importance of addressing these challenges, MCEC has developed the Military Child Well-Being Toolkit, a remarkable resource aimed at supporting the emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and overall wellbeing of military-connected youth. Through collaboration with external organizations and subject matter experts, MCEC has created an interactive toolkit that equips parents, educators, and